A small salted biscuit of twisted shape. The thing as well as the name came from Germany. There are pictures of it in German books, about 1550.
1888. A quantity of these horrid pretzels in every pocket of his clothes.—St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April 29 (Farmer).
1889. The German beer-houses, with their baskets of “pretzel,” are more frequent as we approach the commercial quarters.—Theodore Child, ‘Characteristic Parisian Cafés,’ Harper’s Mag., lxxviii. p. 692/1, April. (N.E.D.)
